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Skarloey and the Mountain Bikers
Plot Skarloey often travels through the mountains of the Skarloey Railway, bringing passengers along the line in his coaches The old engine loves this work, as it gives him a chance to meet people along the line. He often notices mountain bikers along the mountains' trails, racing their bikes to see who gets somewhere first. Skarloey enjoys watching these races, but is sometimes worried something bad might happen, because some of the bikers could get a tad reckless. One day, Skarloey was making his usual run through the mountains. "It sure is a hot day," he said to himself, "Good thing the passengers have their refreshments and the fans on the ceiling." He looked to his upper left and saw the usual mountain bikers, climbing a steep hill. "Woo hoo!" one said, "This'll be fun! I'll outdo all of you." and he cycled ahead of the rest of the group. Skarloey chuckled. "There's Jim again, being the hotshot as always..." Being his usual self, Jim cycled around a tree stump. "Look at me, I'm amazing! I can do anything! My bike can go even faster back in town though. I wonder if-" "Look out for that rock!" a woman called. Jim was surprised. "Wait, what?" He then looked ahead and saw it. "Oh yeah? I can smash through that!" he said confidently. The others glanced to each other. Jim was secretly a bit afraid, but grew confident when he noticed Skarloey was puffing down below in the valley. "I'll show you!" Jim exclaimed, wanting to impress Skarloey, as he smashed his bike into the rock. The others cringed as the rock fell down the side of the mountain and fell onto the tracks. Jim fell off his bike, which had become badly damaged. "Look what you did!" a biker scolded. "Oh please, I'm just too talented for you," Jim laughed as he got up, trying to ignore a few bruises and scrapes, "Come on, let's race Skarloey! I can fix this bike later." "You sure you're fine?" asked an older woman. "Positive. Come on, let me ride on one of your bikes." said Jim as he wiped the dirt off his jeans. That perked everybody up as they raced down the mountain. "Come on, I'll be first!" said Jim excitedly. "No way." said his best friend, "I've got the advantage." "Do you now? We'll see." and Jim raced ahead. Skarloey meanwhile was puffing along the tracks, determined to make it to Glennock on time. "I mustn't let down my passengers." he said, "Or else they'd be cross. Especially in this horrid weather. Driver did warn of a dry spell..." Suddenly his driver looked ahead and threw on the brakes. "Skarloey, watch out!". "What's wrong driver?" "There's a rock in the middle of the line!" Before Skarloey could reply, he felt his wheels jump off the rails as they hit something hard. "Bubbling boilers!" Skarloey cried as he realized that he had hit a large rock, and it had gone under his wheels. Skarkoey's wheels, unable to be guided with the rails, toppled off the line. The coupling to the coach snapped, so the coaches stayed on the rails, but Skarloey raced along a field until he hit a patch of pine trees. "Ow!" he cried as he hit a large tree trunk, "This bark is... so hard!" His driver looked him over. "Hmm, nothing too serious," he said, "Although you'll need a new set of buffers." "And brakes too," added the fireman, "They were overwhelmed with the pressure and snapped. You were lucky to stop at all." Skarloey was cross. "That rock wasn't here on my morning run!" he said angrily, "How did it get there?" "I may have a few ideas," said the driver solemnly, looking up the mountain. "Those stupid bikers?" the fireman asked, "They probably were having 'fun' and knocked it off the mountain. Wouldn't be surprised, considering what people do these days.." "They're actually really friendly, minus Jim, who I guess is the leader," explained Skarloey, "He's a bit of a daredevil, but he's nice at heart." "That explains a lot..." the driver said crossly, shaking his head. At Glennock, the bikers raced down the dirt bike lane and into the station parking lot. "Ha ha losers, I win!" Jim chuckled. "It was luck," snapped his best friend. "Sure, William. You keep telling yourself that." But the others were worried as they looked down the line. "Where's Skarloey?" asked a biker. Duncan was at the station with a train of passengers, and was waiting for Skarloey to come so he could continue his journey. "He's late," grumbled Duncan, "Apparently he's too old to go that fast now." "He was going pretty fast when we last saw him though," a biker said, scratching his head. Suddenly one of the female bikers gasped, realizing something. "Jim! You knocked that rock down the mountain. It must've derailed Skarloey!" Everybody turned to Jim crossly. Jim tried to form a defense, but he realized nothing could be said. "Um... sorry?" "No sorry for ye, lad," fumed Duncan, "I'm late thanks to your stupidity!" "Look, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to!" cried Jim. The bikers just glared at him. "...sure," scoffed William. The stationmaster came out to see what the fuss was. "What is going on? Where's Skarloey? He's too reliable to be this late..." the man said to the bikers, "Do you know what happened?" "Skarloey's derailed," explained the bikers. "Oh dear... How?" said the stationmaster. "Jim here knocked a rock down the mountain... supposedly by accident." "It was by accident, I swear! I'm not that stupid!" Jim said defensively. "Yes, that's why you did that stunt at the restaurant a few days ago," smirked William. "You keep quiet!" The stationmaster sighed as he walked over to the station telephone. "I'll send for Peter Sam and the breakdown crane." Meanwhile, Skarloey was bruised and unamused as he lay by the pine trees. "I hope somebody comes to help soon," he groaned. "It'll be soon ol' boy," said his driver as he snacked on a banana." "Well, you have it easy! You aren't as heavy as we engines," sighed Skarloey, "The heat just gets to me sometimes." "Eh, same here. That's why fans are useful," said the fireman. A whistle blew in the distance. "An engine! Oh, at last!" Skarloey grinned. Peter Sam puffed in with the Breakdown cranes. "Hello there Skarloey," chuckled Peter Sam, "What are you doing down there, treehugger?" Skarloey didn't find this funny at all. "Just get me back on the rails Peter Sam. And please don't say any more stupid jokes...!" "Of course, treehugger." said Peter Sam cheekily and the crane was attached to Skarloey's rear coupling. Soon Skarloey was being tugged along the field. "Well, this is rather unpleasant," the old engine muttered. Skarloey sighed mournfully as he was lifted onto a flatbed, ready to be taken to the Steamworks by Peter Sam. "Ready to go?" asked Peter Sam cheerily. "I guess..." sighed Skarloey, "I just wish I didn't have to let my passengers down." "Don't worry, Sir Handel's taking them." Peter Sam said. "That is worrying." huffed Skarloey. "Well, you didn't let your passengers down either; you just... had an unfortunate accident," added Peter Sam. Skarloey sighed. "...you're right." At the Steamworks, the bikers walked in. "Hello? Skarloey?" asked Wiliiam. Victor puffed up, quite surprised. "What in the world are you all doing here? This isn't a hospital!" Victor cried. Jim winced. "Uh... We came to apologize to Skarloey. Victor sighed reluctantly. "...fine." The bikers smiled. "But only for a few minutes. The Steamworks doesn't exactly have 'visiting hours.'" cautioned Victor. "We'll only be that long." the bikers promised and they walked into the building. Victor rolled his eyes. Skarloey was shocked. "You all came to see me?!" he gasped. "Of course!" said a woman. "We're sorry about your accident." William said, "But Jim should really apologize. He caused the rock to fall." Jim smiled sheepishly as he walked up to the old engine. "Heh heh... Sorry about that...""I suppose it's in the life of a mountain biker... Which doesn't sound that great." Skarloey said teasingly. "Eh, I think you'd be a good biker. What other tricks can you do?" Jim joked.Everyone laughed, even Skarloey and Victor "Told you these bikers were friendly," Skarloey chuckled to his crew, who had come earlier to stay with their engine. "I suppose you're right." admitted the fireman, "Kind've dim-witted though." "Sometimes," smirked Jim. "Only you," grinned William. Skarleoy smiled at the bikers; although his fireman had concerns, he had none whatsoever. Afterwards, the bikers made sure not to cause any more accidents, especially Jim. Characters *Skarloey *Peter Sam *Duncan *Victor *Rheneas (cameo) *Duke (cameo) *Kevin (cameo) *Sir Handel (mentioned) Trivia *This episode is loosely based off the 2001 magazine story "A Special Story about Skarloey." Category:Sodor Adventures